Iroh

Lu Ten was taking it hard. He was so confident when the battle began. He thought he had it all planned out. He thought it would work perfectly. I thought it would work. Then it didn't.

We were half way up the walls when the reinforcements came. We sprung the trap in the walls easily enough, facing minimal casualties and it looked like we might scale the walls, but then came the reinforcements. The fortified the top of the wall, eliminated a line of tanks, and Lu Ten made the toughest of calls, seeing there was nothing he could do. He ordered a retreat.

Now, we were together, going over plans for the next attack, but progress had stagnated. Nothing was being done. He couldn't pay attention. Knew the defeat was haunting him, but he had to move past it. Full command of the army had been returned to me and Lu Ten saw this as failure on his part. Indeed, the objective hadn't been met. We didn't take the wall, and Ba Sing Se was no closer to falling, but he ate the right choice. From where I was watching, I saw thee reinforcements come and prayed he would make the right call and pull back. He did. There was no other choice. Had he attempted to push through, he might have, put thousands would have been lost. Hardly over a hundred losses in contrast was a far better alternative.

But, on the other hand, morale was low. Lower than it had ever been. The assault we had been preparing for over a year now had failed. We were undermanned now and a new plan would take a while to put together until any new information came to light. Now, I would have no choice but to command my host with the 5th Corps. I had sent a small party to their camp to talk with Zahckrael. Hopefully, he hadn't suffered too many losses and would be able to prove useful.

Now, though, I had to deal with my son, who was staring blankly at the map in front of him.

"Lu Ten" I said, placing a hand on his shoulder that he promptly shrugged off. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have expected the reinforcements to come. You made the right call to retreat."

"I looked like a coward. A plan over a year in the making and I surrender it the moment an unexpected threat was met. I should have pushed through."

"Thousands would have died."

"And now thousands more will die in the next attack. That was our chance, and I ruined it."

"You ruined nothing. You gave those men a chance to live and put their skills to use in a more worthwhile effort. They would have died for nothing in that attack."

"They put everything on the line there! Have you talked to them? I haven't, but I hear what they say, I saw the looks they gave me. They blame me!"

"They have no reason to blame you."

"They do. Their friends died in a worthless assault and I did nothing to avenge the fallen."

"You'll get your chance, my son. But that wasn't yesterday. More would have needlessly died if you stayed."

His shoulders dropped and his posture faltered. "Maybe. But any attack in the future will be all the more difficult now that they've lost faith in me."

"They haven't lost faith in you. They just need a victory. Something to remind them that we'll win."

"Like what."

"I don't know, Lu Ten. We'll find something."

"I don't think I can."

"You have to. I need my best commanders with me if we are to take this city and end this all too painful war."

In that moment, a soldier I recognized by Zeadrik, distinguished by his armor markings rushed into the tent, let in by the guards outside. He was with the party that had gone to the 5th Corps' camp. How was he already back?

"General Iroh, sir. We've come back from the camp of the 5th Corps."

"What is it, Corporal?" I responded.

"They've been wiped out."

Wiped out? This time, Lu Ten interjected. "What do you mean wiped out, Zeadrik?"

"Their camp's been destroyed. The 22nd and 15th are completely decimated. The camp's been looted and burnt to the ground. They're gone, sirs."

"Did you find any survivors?"

"Only one, sir. Sergeant Luke."

Luke? The supposed Air Nomad? No. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. There were coincidences and then there was insanity. "Are you sure, it's him?"

"Yes sir. He's in the med bay. He's beat up pretty bad."

"I'll question him immediately."

Lu Ten stopped me before I headed out. "Father. He's just survived hell out there. Let him rest while we work on the plan for the next assault. Then we'll question him on the morrow.

Yes. We would. I didn't like coincidences like this. A Fire Nation unit of over 5,000 me gets wiped out and all that remained is a potential traitor and public enemy to the Fire Nation. Oh yes. He was going to be questioned. And if he was responsible for the death that occurred here, there would be hell to pay.